Garbage’s Song ‘Fix Me Now’ Was Originally Called ‘Chris Cornell’

When Garbage’s Shirley Manson and Butch Vig came to Yahoo Music Thursday afternoon to discuss their discography for our in-depth Backspin interview series, the morning’s news of Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell’s tragic death understandably weighed heavily on everyone’s minds. But Manson and Vig offered an adorable, unexpected anecdote about Cornell that might cheer up grieving fans today.

While Manson and Vig said they didn’t know Cornell well, they did run in the same alt-rock circles in the ’90s (for instance, Vig famously produced Nevermind, by Soundgarden’s Seattle peers Nirvana). And, as revealed during Garbage’s interview, Manson was once so “obsessed” with Cornell that she nearly named a Garbage song after him.

“The story or memory associated with our first record — today, of all days — would be, actually, sadly, upon the news of hearing of Chris Cornell’s death,” Manson said, before smiling and recalling, “We were writing a lot in Madison, and I was obsessed with Chris Cornell. Like, obsessed by him! It was around the time of ‘Black Hole Sun,’ and I used to watch him on MTV. And we ended up trying to write lyrics for ‘Fix Me Now’ … which started off being called ‘Chris Cornell.’”

“We actually have a rough version of a mix with Shirley singing, ‘Chrissss Cornelllll,’” chuckled Vig. “We should be putting that on the Internet.”

Garbage’s “Chris Cornell” demo is a lost treasure for now, but you can listen to the finished, official version of “Fix Me Now” below. Stay tuned for Manson and Vig’s full Backspin interview, and follow our continuing coverage of Chris Cornell’s death and celebration of his life.